Hi, I'm Gus Wallin and this is Not An Overnight Success brought to you by
Shoren Partners Financial Services. This is a podcast where we sit down with some
very successful people from the world of business, entertainment and sport and
talk about their life's journey and what got them to the position that they're in
today. In today's episode we are chatting with celebrity chef and
restaurateur Matt Moran. Matt grew up like a lot of country kids. He didn't
like school, he liked playing sport with his friends and hanging out with his
brother and when he came through chefs were, as he says, the dirty buggers out
the back that no one really cared about until we started owning restaurants of
course and then they had to care because they wanted a good table. Matt's success
took a lot of grit and a lot of hard work. In this chat we talk about his
early days in the kitchen and how his life took some interesting paths that
led to him becoming a celebrity chef. We speak about his life in TV, his
friendship with other celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay, as well as the
importance of things like hats and Michelin stars for business in the
restaurant game. We also talk about Matt's family and his yin-yang style of
relationship with his beautiful wife Sarah. Sitting down with Matt feels like
catching up with a mate for a beer. As for all of these podcasts, Sean Partners
have generously donated $10,000 to the charity of choice of each of our guests.
We discuss who gets that money in this chat. The executive producer of this
podcast is Keisha Pettit with production assistance from Kelly Stubbs and
Brittany Hughes. Let's get into our episode with Matt Moran. Matt Moran, how
are you mate? Mate, I'm great. I'm fantastic. Bad weather but really happy. It's really
good to see you. What did you have for dinner last night? I went down to North
Bondi Fish and I had a little bit of sashimi and some fish and chips to be
honest. Beautiful. I sat at the bar and yeah and then went home. Do you like going to
restaurants rather than having to deal with stuff yourself? That's a really
interesting question because most people think that me being a chef when
I'm at home that I don't cook is where it's probably the complete opposite
nowadays is where you know I'm probably not cooking the restaurants and I'm
cooking more at home. So I love going out. Don't get me wrong. Obviously that's
what I do but I do love cooking at home and it's not uncommon for me to be
sitting home on a Saturday or Sunday and decide that I want to you know bake
something, cook something and spend three or four hours in the kitchen by
myself and and I'm completely at peace. Beautiful. What was your family like
growing up for you and where did you grow up? Country originally. So I was born in
Tamworth. I lived there until I was four on a sheep farm cattle farm and then
went from there to Wyong for a year as in between I think and then dairy farm.
So we had a dairy farm at Badger's Creek and after that I don't think things went
great for the family. We ended up in Seven Hills Blacktown and that's where I
sort of did my later years of school actually early years of school too from
I think about fourth class all the way through to year 10. I didn't go any
further than year 10. So we and then got an apprenticeship as a chef and then
sort of moved to move to the east. And you stayed there ever since? Well no I
my first house I bought was in Redfern. Okay. Yeah so I kind of tried to get back
west but not quite. Yeah and you got dragged back again. Yeah dragged back to
the beaches yeah which I love. Do you have brothers, sisters, mum and dad was
it like a normal sort of mum and dad at home? Yeah pretty much. They separated
when I was about 20. I've got a brother who's a year old and unfortunately I lost my
sister about 18 months ago. So she's yeah she's gone. She's in your prayers?
She's in my prayers. I think every day. Were you a close-knit family growing up?
Yeah pretty much yeah. I was very close to my brother you know he's only 18
months or 20 months older than me. So yeah we kind of we're only one year apart
at school and you know we grew pretty quickly so we're pretty much the same
size most of our lives. I've got a big brother too about 18 months older than
me and we've actually got to the stage where we've got closer as we've got
older. Yeah. Actually it's going through life together got us closer together. I
think you know growing up we hung out a lot because obviously when we're in the
in the country you know it was only him and I so we sort of you know hung out a
lot and then we went to school we're still great mates you know we used to we
had our own friends but we were still sort of you know connected and then he
got into chefing for a little while too and then got out of it and then you know
he had his own family and I had my family and yeah we're close I'd say we're
very close. Sport did that play a part in your world? Yeah I was the sporty one you
know I was the you know I played baseball I played rugby played league you
know that's what you did out west loved it. In fact I played rugby and toured New
Zealand when I was 14, 15 and I thought I was pretty bloody good actually I
there might have been a career there somewhere and went to New Zealand and
realized that was never gonna happen and never played again and actually took up
cooking so yeah that kind of turned out all right too so you know. Exactly you
could say that you played for the Wallabies as a chef. Well you know what
the last night we were there we had a dinner that we just thought was a dinner
and it was the third test the next day Australia and New Zealand at Eden Park
and the Wallabies walked in and we had dinner with them. What year is this would
you say roughly? It's 84 maybe okay and I was only four at the time and yeah I've
got I've got a great photo of Gary Glenn and Mark Ella you know and I think it was
Campisi's first game and Roger Gould was playing and yeah it was fantastic yeah
then went watch the game the next day. Oh what a treat. It was a very big treat
there's a highlight of New Zealand actually the rest of the games we got
absolutely slaughtered. And that can happen? Oh that happened they were twice
the size of us and yeah I just realized that I wasn't as good as I thought I was.
Yeah a lot of people have that one moment they go okay changing tact here now. Yep
that's that's it I'll become a cook. So you became a cook and how quickly did
that happen for you were you a food lover did you love food were you a chubby kid
that used to eat all the time? No look you know people think the the correlation
with the the farm and farming and and produce was the way that I got into it or you know this
beautiful romantic story about my my family being great cooks and my grandmother and all that sort
of thing. It wasn't the case you know we had a very simple diet protein the three veg and I thought
when I started cooking I just didn't like seafood but in actual fact I'd never really eaten it
you know fish fingers was probably that's about it right because you know we just hadn't didn't
have access to it but I didn't like school I wasn't that academic which is strange because
I've got a son now doing medicine and who you know is incredibly bright. Wife's jeans.
That's probably right too and I've got a daughter who's very street smart so that's probably where
she got that from. That's jeans. That's jeans too. Good combo. But yeah I didn't really like school and I left before
my brother did actually and I said to my father I really wanted to do a trade and I would have done
anything Gus I would have painted or panel beaded a car and and I did home economics in year nine
and ten for the only reason that I knew that we'd be cooking during the day at school and I'd get
something to eat and there was me and one mate and 20 other girls so good ratio and I think I came
last in the class and I did a little bit of work experience in a bakery and thought maybe I might
be a baker which I still love it's one of my passions baking and I knew a little bit about
butchery because you know being on the farm when we moved off the farms and we're living in Blacktown
Seven Hills my father he made a little bit of money again and bought a little place at Traoga
near Goulburn 500 acres we used to have sheep there and cuddle we used to go down there every
weekend and work so I got to know farming a lot more a lot more about farming then and yeah I
tried to find I thought I'd compromise and do a bit of butchery and baking and become a chef and
and then went out and tried to find a job at the end of year 10 and couldn't get one I was working
at Parramatta RSL on weekends washing up and really enjoyed what they were doing and there
was a guy on the grill that had been there for four years and the guy on the deep fryer had been
there for four years and all he wanted to do was get on the grill and I thought one day if I could
ever just get on that deep fryer I'd be so happy but I used to run in out of the cool room and get
the meat for the head chef and I remember him tracking an egg with one hand thinking God I'm
in awe of you you're bloody so good and then yeah couldn't get a job and you know 20 interviews I
reckon one guy even said to me he said look at the first 10 don't work out I'll give you a call
I remember there was a place that advertised for a first year in Roseville a little place called
Lepa Halen and little did I know it was one of the top restaurants in probably in the country
and I didn't really want to go there my father made me because I made the appointment and I
got there and I saw a piece of paper and there was all these names with crosses next to it
and I thought wow I'm gonna have to bullshit my way here and I seriously you know I wasn't that
articulate really you know I wasn't that confident really and I was so desperate I he was this the
owner was the the chef Michael Dolorens who I owe a lot to probably the most underrated chef ever
didn't get the sort of credibility that he probably deserved I remember saying to him during the
interview saying that I didn't have much experience but if you give me a go I promise you
you will not be sorry and because I said that I think he gave me a bit of a crack and I did
a three-day trial and I stuffed up a few times and then on the Saturday night at the end of
he said you can go to school on Monday and leave because I went back to year 11 for a couple of
weeks until I got a job and he said you can go back and leave and I too was happy to stay my
life that's so great stayed there for four and a half years I was head chef by the time I was
you know a third-year apprentice. Sleepy little Roseville. Yeah and back in those days you know
it was six days a week we used to work I can't remember what time we used to start but I used
to get in there early you know do 15 hour days most days so you're doing you know 80-90 hours a
week and I think I was getting paid 150 bucks to me that was a lot oh for sure 50 bucks to get to
work you know because Sundays I was just gone I was so tired I was only 15 anyway so I couldn't
go out drinking or any yeah 50 bucks to get to to work and back and I banked 100 bucks.
That is awesome. Save five grand the first year and bought myself a car. Well played sir.
So that's all going along beautifully up there in Roseville at what stage you go you know what
I could actually be more than this or did you have that feeling at some stage or were you just really
happy with what you were doing? Look it was it was very different to the RSL and this is where
that light bulb moment happened you know when I got to Labelle and it was a fine dining French
restaurant you know very classic but you know with some modern sort of you know techniques and stuff
I remember the first few days and on the trial and going home and saying to my family you have
no idea what they do with food they whip up these egg whites and they put them in a bowl and they
serve it as this thing called a souffle you know and decorations on a plate they get a strawberry
and they cut it and they fan it. It's been my biggest love affair there's no question
but it was just that light bulb moment is where this is wow you know this is so creative and this
is I fell in love with it within days and I've never stopped it so you know it was one of those
things that you you accidentally fall into but you just become so passionate and all I wanted
to do was learn because I'm a little bit hyperactive hanging around me enough you'll get that but yeah
fell in love with it and couldn't wait to get to work and I remember on weekends I'd see my mates
you know from black town we'd moved to Castle Hill by then and I'd go and see them on weekends and
we'd be sitting around on a Sunday afternoon around the park whatever and they'd all be going
she said I want to go to work tomorrow and I used to think to myself for a long time that there was
something wrong with me because I couldn't wait to get to work and you know that was obviously
to learn something something different and that's that's what started me on that role so I never
took up cooking thinking that I'd be a celebrity chef or own a restaurant write a cookbook like
there's no way that wasn't even not even a pipe dream because it wasn't even on the agenda you
know because majority of chefs back in those days didn't own restaurants those famous ones overseas
we were the dirty smelly buggers out the back that no one gave a fuck about really until we
started owning the restaurants and then they had to get to know us because they wanted the good
table of course so your timing was great in terms of you know being someone who loved what they did
because so many kids I've got three teenagers now and takes years to work stuff out they go down
heaps of little rabbit holes before they pop their head up where they want to but also the
timing around all of a sudden chefs being celebrities being on telly and so forth and
you're one of the more successful ones of that what have you enjoyed about that journey over
the last 20 odd years of becoming something that people know now yeah look you know I went to a few
different places you know when I was younger after I left Labelle and you know fine dining and high
profile so when I bought my first restaurant when I was only 22 with my partner Peter who I bought
out years ago it was like a moment of do I want to make a lot of money and be successful wasn't
really I just didn't want to be told what to do anymore yeah and it just kind of it just kept
falling into things you know and then another restaurant and then another restaurant then another
restaurant and then it was really probably 20 years ago around 2003 I think I did a documentary
style thing called heat in the kitchen and we had a publicist who's working for us at aria in the
early days and she asked me to go on audition for this tv show called my restaurant rules and I was
oh that's a stupid fucking idea that will never work you know how can you give people that don't
own restaurants and aren't chefs a chance to win a restaurant they go broke in days you know
and I went in and auditioned which I didn't really want to be there and I just spoke my mind and
that's when they went oh we want you and then that started that sort of that career you know
which obviously went on I think it's about 12 different shows now I've done over the year some
of them you know I helped develop too so got a couple things happening again which is nice but
yeah it was just one of those things I didn't really set out to sort of be that it just sort
of happened and fell into it and I suppose the great thing about that is that I've always had
a career with restaurants and that's always been my main love so tv was always a bit of a
and media was always a bit of a byproduct which meant that if I didn't want to do it I'd say no
and I think with anything in life you say no enough they want you to do it more
so I've been lucky in that in that way is where you know I've turned a lot of things down and
ones that I've kind of really passionate about or I really like they're the ones that I've done
or to get experience in certain things so yeah I'm not a tv chef as such as where that's my only
thing so you know if someone told me tomorrow that my tv career is over for the rest of my life
great I go back to work you know what I do if someone told me my restaurant career and empires
gone I'd be fucked I wouldn't know what to do you know that's my life you know that's always
been a priority yeah tv's the balance and gives you a bit of fun and get to meet some cool people
and do some fun things but that's not the core of your being no and you know there's you know
a lot of my mates and you know it's quite well known that Gordon's one of my best friends and
has been for nearly 30 years and you know I remember when he first started his first tv show and I
said oh mate why would you want to do that he's done okay he's done all right yeah we were talking
to Lane Beechley through this podcast series and just like you and people that are wanted lots of
options come your way so you have to decide on what to do because there's not only 24 hours in
a day so she came up with this Lane fits in a lot you know Lane with Kirk's one of my best friends
I used to own a restaurant with Kirk yes and he was one of my best well you know I had four
best men he was one of them so I know Lane very well and she can fit a lot in a day she sure can
but she's done it with the fuck yeah or the hell no so fuck yeah I'm in on everything yep the hell
no I never think of you again yeah that way at least she has no sort of gray area where she's
like oh maybe I should have or I shouldn't have and since chatting to her about that that's how
I'm trying to lead my life and it has cleared the decks quite a bit yeah yeah yeah she's a very
very special lady and she's very competitive strange enough I've seen my daughter and her
you know being away on trips and playing mind games or cards and and you know you let little
girls win sometimes but not Lane Lane's like no fucking way I'm gonna let you beat me I've
dealt with a lot of sportsmen as well I've played through the ashes with Mark Tata and Brad Haddon
we used to play tennis on our before the test match start especially with the day night test
you had all morning so I'm just playing it back to the guy that's not quite as good right let's
get some rallies going in the looks that you get from these blokes are like are you fucking serious
bury these people now and I'm like that's sort of not it's I haven't got that in me yeah have you
got that I used to instinct I used to get into trouble at home when I used to play monopoly with
the kids and you know they would be thinking that they're going to be paying me back because they've
gone bankrupt for the rest of their lives and they've both been tears and I just keep trying
to bury them it's a good lesson in life what does your wife think to be to be bankrupt oh she hated
it god she hated it tell me about your wife and where did you meet did you fall in love straight
away did you fall in love and she didn't or vice versa oh yeah look you know we we met
in a restaurant strangely enough and pretty special person so yeah I was I was gone and
you know it took a while to convince her she's a very smart individual and you know a very
good heart and good person yeah very left you know many people have said to me over the years
you know she's the bleeding heart and I'm the capitalist pig but that's not true at all you
know as Sarah once said to me you wanted to be a big corporate lawyer or if you wanted me to be a
big corporate lawyer and earn a lot of money you know we wouldn't work but if I was more like her
we wouldn't have a house to live in yeah good balance yeah definitely just quickly interrupting
the episode to say a very big thank you to the sponsor of this podcast and that is sure and
partners financial services sure and partners are an australian investment and wealth management
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and let's get back into the episode there's quite a few sacrifices I imagine for the family when
you are out there building the empire not now I imagine you can run things how you want to run
them but your partner turns into a true partner in life not just a yeah it looks like a homemaker
Harry's 20 and Amelia's 16 and you know obviously 20 years ago was when I was really building the
career and you know I spent a lot of time at work I looked back at that and you know I tried to take
as much time off as I possibly could you know I think as it went on and by the time they were
sort of you know at school and probably Harry was in high school made a very conscious effort to
make sure that I had holidays every year and and you know we'd go away skiing and big skiing family
and we'd go to Europe and do things like that and the farm obviously and and Easter's you know
had every Easter at the farm good for god knows how long and yeah it's kind of strange now that
Harry lives in Melbourne he's down there doing uni and you know he's not here in Sydney anymore
and you kind of miss him like bloody crazy yeah I find that too during the breakfast radio for
11 years it was very much those kids formative years and Vic said you know you were here but
you were just so tired you know you were just you weren't present yeah yeah and I'm trying really
hard now to get a better balance yeah and asking the kids if they understand why that was the case
and as they get a bit older they they get it because they know it's coming from the right place
and you know I talk to Harry and Amelia a lot not that I would want to influence them in what I did
but you know I lost a lot of my well I lost my teenage years you know because I was working six
days a week and you know a lot of going out and I worked every Friday Saturday night for 25 years
so you know there wasn't a lot of weekends away and all that sort of stuff so I sort of I sort
of sacrificed that to get where I where I am now and you know they often talk about that now it's
like wow dad you're like you didn't really you know you didn't do anything like what we're doing
and I'm at that stage now is where I probably can take it a bit easy if I want to and if I want to
take a day off I can if I want to go I had father daughter breakfast the other day with Amelia and
I can do those sort of things and not feel stressed about it because I don't really answer to anyone
yeah nice place to be you said that you didn't want to have a boss so you can be your own boss
I answered to my daughter probably more than anyone these days believe me I've got a couple
of those I know exactly what you mean was that I spoke to Kirk actually and I said what was his
sort of moment where he knew that he had made it and I said was it you know in front of a hundred
or thousand at Wembley and so forth and I won't give the answer away because I'd love you to hear
the podcast but what was the moment if there was one because you had the light bulb to say I'm going
to be this was there a moment where you just looked and went hey I've made it well you felt
satisfied with everything and you were just like this is really cool this life I've created oh
look probably hasn't happened yet Gus that's good you know I remember you know being young
and getting that first letter to being invited to the good food got awards and knowing that we're
going to get a hat and you know I was only 23 or something at the time I thought wow that was
pretty cool but you know business when you're 22 and you don't really know what you're doing
is pretty tough too you know we nearly went broke a few times and didn't really understand the
business side of it and you know it was really important to surround myself with people that
knew a lot more about business than what I did which obviously I'm a sponge so you know I learned
off them and business side obviously is the biggest part of my business now because you know
you've got to be on figures and margins and all that other bits and pieces particularly as you
get bigger yeah look this I'm sure there's been different stages of my life was where I've thought
wow you know that's great you know I've done that and whatever but I don't think there's been one
individual moment that I've just stood back and went oh you know it's done because I'm still doing
things you know my daughter once said to me years ago you know are you going to retire at 65
and I said Mim I probably won't because I'm involved in restaurants and property and
farms and whatever else I'll probably never retire and she looked really disappointed
and I said why she said well you know this is when she was younger she's only probably 10 or 11
she said well I want to take over Empire and do all the things right that you're doing wrong
and when she said disappoint when she looked disappointed I thought god is that because
she doesn't want me she wants me to take some time off and not work anymore but it was
complete opposite she just wanted to yeah well I don't think she's going down that line but you
never know I'd love for someone to come in on it but the difference is obviously I'm a cook and
I started cooking and if a chef walks out I can sort of you know still get on it well I don't
really but I could get on the tools yeah of course I could yeah what's the meal that you could
absolutely if we said right oh mate open up that door the kitchen's there I haven't had brekkie
today you might be surprised to whip me up something yeah yeah I could definitely whip
you up something because I have fine dining restaurants and restaurants different you know
different sorts of restaurants people think that that's the sort of food that I eat all the time
it's not uncommon for me on a Sunday night to have a boiled egg on toast I love a good roast chook
you know I've been spending a lot of time down in the country and get a good chook and there's
nothing better a bit of sourdough on the bottom and garlic all over it and heaps of butter and
put the chook on it fries it underneath and you know you got garlic bread under your chook
oh that's a nice little touch Colin Fasnic I got that idea from him many many years ago
another madman another oh he's a bit madder than me he's actually I just saw that he's about to do
Kitchen Nightmares which is one of Gia's shows Gordon shows which is he'd be good on that actually
he would be yeah and then on the other hand on a winter's day on a Saturday or Sunday it's not
uncommon for me to make some sausages and make a casserole you know coffee some duck leg and make a
traditional classic casserole which will take me four or five hours or you know or bake a tart or
something like that you know I crave different things at different times and I'll be honest you
know when I wake up in the morning you know one of the first things I do think of is what I'm going
to eat today yeah and what do I feel like and what do I crave and and you know it's funny because my
family think I'm mad but it's it's just a fact of life you know I love food I love cooking you know
I like doing different things too and I'll challenge myself sometimes at home too of course yeah my
mum says all disagreements can be dealt with with a nice cup of tea yeah right it's got to be in a
pot yeah a bit old Englishy that way yeah are you a cup of tea in a pot man or are you more of a
coffee man or I love coffee but I do a show Great Australian Bake Off which is on air at the moment
we've loved the UK one as well yeah I walked in on my son and daughter the other day and on the
laptop they're watching your show oh were they oh we didn't know there was an Aussie one because
they're 22 now yeah right both very cool in inverted commas people yeah and they're watching
the UK and the Aussie version yeah great well what's going on on that show we have Kate Corner
and I'm obviously with Maggie Beer the gorgeous Maggie and the two girls will be sitting there
talking about the contestants and what's happening next and we always have a pot of tea so you know
I do love a good pot of a good tea at home it would never be a pot it's generally just a tea
bag because this is quick yeah out of the zip tea bag in there but quite often on a weekend I'll
have a have a cup of tea and I don't mind it I used to have a lot of tea with my grandmother
when I was growing up but it's you know going back to Bake Off is quite funny your kids are
watching it so I said to my son because it only started the other other month and I said to Harry
I said oh yeah so you watched Bake Off last night oh yeah dad yeah yeah I said well so what do you
like about it and he said oh how good's the judging and I said looked at it and I said so mate um
what about the baking oh the bakings oh god it's good and I said well what part did you like the
most about the bakings oh the baked items you know yeah how good are the baked items they look
delicious and then he sent me a video of the next week of you know 10 of his mates sitting down
with it on tv and you know as he said it was on for three seconds and we sent it to you and then
send it off yeah well I say to my kids every afternoon what do you like on the show this
afternoon they're like yeah the traffic bits yeah when you're through to the traffic it's like
when's the last time you actually listen and I suppose that's normal yeah you did speak a little
bit ago about getting a hat oh yeah now for people that don't understand that listening to
the podcast yeah that is your oh that that's you know going back um 30 years which obviously
it was in fact nearly exactly 30 years ago it's uh an award so you have one two or three and it was
Paddington that I had won and and look it's still important but you know back in those days you know
there weren't the outlets you know all the different awards that there are now and it was
really the only one and it meant a hell of a lot and it really it's back in the Leo Schofield days
where it could make a restaurant or break a restaurant okay look it's still nice to receive
those accolades but for business it's not as important as social media word of mouth that's
the stuff that goes viral these days and how do you get one like do you know that someone's coming
in to eat a meal which means that you've just got to be on point for that meal or do they come
in as a secret like yeah that must be just they're just going to make or break your business they
book under a different name but after being in it for so long you know you know who they are
okay um and look it's still very important for the restaurant and for the staff because you know
they're striving and that's one of the first tv shows I did it was a documentary called heat in
the kitchen where we lost a hat in a venue we had two of them and they can take them off yeah they
can take them off yeah yeah so the next year they took one off me and it was a really good learning
curve for me and it sort of stopped me in my tracks because it really hurt I still don't agree
with it but it was possibly the best thing that ever happened to me because it really made me look
at what I was and I think it made me a better person made me much more humble and we had a
film crew follow us for a year to see whether we'd get it back or not when we lost it it probably
didn't do that much to business but when we got it back it did and we got it back the following
year so it was a good it was a good story in the end yeah but I didn't want to they came to us and
asked us if they we could follow you and I was like no no I don't want to be any part of that
I'll drop out and I actually was talking about giving it all up which is ridiculous because
you know as if you got success quite young though so I suppose your mind was still a little bit
fuck you yeah yeah a little bit but you know what I I sat there and thought about it and I thought
you know what if these guys do follow us and they know and they see the the effort the work
and the change that I'll do in that year it makes the critics look like idiots
you know so I thought fuck them yeah follow me turn it around turn it around and you know it was
a good good story in the end and we've never lost one ever since you know at that venue so
Michelin stars yes is that another way yeah I suppose the hats in Australia are marked on
what a Michelin star is so yeah so one one star two star three stars yeah yeah because I think
I went to one went to Royale or somewhere like that in France to get the grog for my wedding
yeah my wife and I got married in England she's English yeah and the bloke who took me over in
this van and we just piled the van up with you know all the cheap grog he said we're going to
a Michelin star restaurant tonight and I think I was meant to know what that meant but I didn't
but I remember having some breadcrumbs and stuff in front of me and this little mini hoover but it
wasn't a hoover because you had to physically move it but it was beautiful and and silver and
and clean the table clean the table up with it and my and the wine didn't stay on the table it
was at another table and there was one guy just watching yeah needing a top I thought this is a
way to eat yeah that's really fine fine dining there's a big place for those restaurants in the
world because you know I've traveled a lot and eaten in a lot of three star Michelin restaurants
and you know it's an experience that you uh you remember for the rest of your life I remember
the first one I went to it was in in Paris it was Alan Decast is one of the most famous chefs in
the world and it was three Michelin star and I was with my girlfriend at the time who was actually
Sarah and we didn't want to waste it on someone you're going to spend the rest of your life before
I was before I was married and I couldn't really afford it and it was quite funny because when we
left you know the food was in I still remember we had a long esteem for an entree and I think
it actually back then you know 20 odd years ago it was about 170 bucks so we spent a thousand
dollars then all right 500 ahead then and that was 25 years what's that worth now oh god knows
and uh I remember at the end of it the the chef gave me a signed menu and a loaf of bread and an
ashtray you know there was obviously smoking restaurants back in those days and I remember
walking out and someone saying or Sarah saying you know you know that was really nice and I said oh
come on you know what happened I said he gave me ashtray because he knew I was going to steal one
he gave me a menu because he knows I'm a cook and he gave us a loaf of bread because he knows I
can't afford dinner yeah for the next three days still got the ashtray I think that is nice so
yeah what's a trait that you love about yourself oh oh god there's a lot that I don't well that's
the next do you want to go don't first I'm a taurine and you know I charge into things I'm
I'm stubborn as hell I can be wrong and that's probably the good thing and I I'd like to surround
myself with people that will actually tell me that I'm wrong and you know I think that's really
important I think when I was younger I was very pigheaded and bullheaded how I wanted to run my
kitchen and my business and that's very different and and that's why I've got incredible staff that
have been with me for a long time some some 20 years Laura who's out there I think she might be
out there 15 years and I've had multiple staff you know you know 19 years 17 years 18 years
and and I think that's because you kind of empower them and and make them feel as though they have a
voice there's no dictatorship in my you know restaurants or companies it's always being
very collaborative so you know listening and learning is really important you don't know
everything I remember when I was doing MasterChef for those years and there was a young girl
series one who I became a bit of a mentor who's a very dear friend and I won't say who it is
she's very well known she said to me I remember when she came out of MasterChef she said to me
you know so how long is it going to take me to learn everything and I just looked at her
and at that stage I've been doing it for 25 years I said well I've been doing for 25 years and I've
got no idea on the tip of the iceberg because you know cooking is is knowledge knowledge takes time
so and it's always changing and evolving and you're always learning something and that's the great
thing I love about the industry and I love about myself is that I'm always forcing myself to learn
as much as I possibly can so I don't know everything you know I often get told that
you know a great trait is I don't give a fuck what people think about me personally you know
because you get a lot of criticism you know I've been copying it at the country pub that I bought
for for not reopening and closing it one was COVID and one I was trying to get a DA and whatever
from the locals belting me and they belted me and you know it's pretty thick skinned and what and
you said the bad trait you said you're a bullet the gate is there anything else you want to add
to that I'm stubborn you know I'm a bull you know I used to be very bad tempered you know in a
kitchen growing up but you know I think having kids calms you down a lot you know firm but fair
I suppose but these days I'm soft and mushy you know hopeless no that's great that's good there's
a question coming from one of our producers a lady producer saying that you look like Kelly Slater
has anyone said that I've never heard that one but I'll take that one wouldn't you take it Jesus
you know he's my age too and still winning world championships how good was that and being emotional
about it and being emotional you know you get softer as you get older I think Gus definitely
I'm definitely I'm definitely more left than I used to be there's no question we've become more
human yeah I think so so many people and I cry a lot I've cried here a couple of times already
yeah listening to you I'm sort of trying to stop apologizing for that now
no mate you don't because Aussies well humans I think we tend to sort of sorry you know you're
doing it you're being human and that's okay yeah I've heard Kevin Costner a few times I don't know
where that came into it but you know you take him to I'll take I'll take Kelly Slater thank you
yeah take I'm gonna I'm gonna put that on my Instagram Slater slash Costner yeah that's a good
result that's that's the best I've heard we've got the fast five questions that end up in our
podcast so just shoot your favorite holiday destination GR Gordon took me to Iceland for my
50th and I'm going back again this year with him just the two of you no there's a couple of us
because he's got to fill his jet makes it more um and fishing um you know fishing for salmon in
those streams up in Iceland is pretty bloody special and I'll never thanks buddy and we're
going to try and do it every year for the rest of our lives I think what's he like as a bloke
Gordon Ramsey oh look you know he's one of the most generous thoughtful people you'd ever meet
whenever I speak to GR it's always you know how's how's everyone and he's the persona you see is
very different he can be pretty soft too that's good yeah so he's a good bloke plays a role well
we're very competitive by the way we all put in 20 quid to whoever got the biggest fish I got the
biggest and the first I was very happy to take his 20 quid even though he paid for the private jet
and everything he's working with Australians now what about the farm your farm the farm is
is really important to me you know I love I love the farm I've been spending more time there in
the last two years than I ever have it is no question my father was living on it and now he's
moved into Bathurst and you know I'm doing some more work to the house and renovating it and I've
been taking friends every time I take a friend there they go wow you know you you're a different
person and um you're a different person when you're there yeah it's my happy yourself yeah
decompressing as you drive out I tell you the the minute the first two hours of driving out there
is on the phone doing business and then the next hour is listening to podcasts and the minute I
drive into that gate I'm a different person it is my happy place and there's no question about it
you know I can sit there in the paddock and look at my cows for half an hour and you know it's just
I just like looking at them you know and I like talking to my farm manager and and learning
because it's something I want to do more of even though I've been going to the farm my whole life
and prior to that but there's so much I've got to learn and so much more that I want to do
and create there and do different things and there's no question you know and that's obviously why I
bought the local pub up there too so I can you know have something to do when I'm when I'm not
on the farm yeah but yeah there's no question it's my happy place you know I've got a veggie
garden up there and I'm gonna renovate the house up there and you'll have to come up I'd love to
make that's an invite because it's a special place there's no question it sounds beautiful
I've got a mate that's got a place outside of mangrove mountain just an hour and a half out of
Sydney and we were there this weekend and I just sat there one afternoon I wear a little glass of
scotch and just looked at him and said mate you've created something pretty cool here and he's like
just nodding along it's just sort of happened he's 53 now and it's just all of a sudden it's just a
really lovely place to go and he feels very comfy there yeah and the the pub in Rocklea which is
only six and a half minutes from the farm you know I used to go to Rocklea and Rocklea used
to have 3000 people in the gold rush and now it's got 200 and it's a beautiful town because
it comes down into a valley and all the houses are on the hills that look down over into into
the creek there or river nothing's there anymore is only the pub and the whole idea was to buy the
pub and create a town you know and I see so many of these rural towns that have been created you
know Millthorpe is a great example is where my mate bought a restaurant there 20 years ago and
now Millthorpe is thriving you can't buy a house there for under a million bucks and you know there's
cafes and there's you know accommodation and he's got a function venue there and he owns most of the
town I think. It's a destination. It is a destination and that's what I want Rocklea to be I want to be
able to bake and build a bakery and I'll do a bit of wholesale into Bathurst and Orange which I can
so it gives you a bit of cash flow but then also open a general store and and you know all the
things I'm using in the restaurant and and put in the general store and and I've promised the the
locals and I've made it very clear many times that the general store will be a a place where
you know they're not going to get ripped off and they can buy milk and groceries probably not the
sourdough for the same price they can in Bathurst so it's really a service rather than you know a
money-making thing for me I'll make money in the restaurant and the accommodation and all and the
beer sales yeah of course yeah majority of the local in fact 90% of the locals love the idea
they're like fantastic you're going to bring the town back to life and you know on a Sunday morning
because a lot of people from Sydney go out there too and come down to the bakery grab something to
eat and you know have a beer in the afternoon and go back up to the house and whatever and to me
that's just heaven of course I can come in from the farm have a couple of beers and go back out
of the farm how good favorite quote favorite quote do something that you love in life and you never
have to work another day yeah I like that like that favorite movie oh look always twos but I'd
have to say Godfather 2 okay but I love Terminator 2 Superman 2 don't know why you don't mind a sequel
I don't mind the sequel but they're always better rocky 2 was you know rocky 1 was fantastic rocky
2 was great you know Terminator was good Terminator 2 was fantastic yeah Godfather was 1 was good 2
was amazing you know yeah you might be honest yeah 3 wasn't that great you're gonna have to
watch it anyway are you a reader what's your favorite book no no no that's the other side
of the family okay all the kids and Sarah they read so how do you how do you chill I will cook
look that's like I'm known no one can beat me in trivia and I'm very good with numbers is that
right yeah very good with numbers it is a challenge and I can add up like a like a calculator but I
have trivia like if you tell me a great classic Aussie rock song I'll probably tell you when it
came out okay and I just case and 78 or anyway it doesn't matter yeah um but I did that recently
with two ladies and and they said three and I got all three of them right and they're just like how
the fuck did you know that anyway just that useless info we have information so I obviously
get that by reading so you know rather than sort of reading a novel you know I'm just always
constantly if I want to know something I'm just on it straight away so you know and and I do read
a little bit about politics and all that sort of stuff and obviously if I'm thinking about going
somewhere I'm yeah Google's been the best thing for me oh yeah and uh spell check has been the
best two things for me on the computer that's good to know and your favorite charity I know
you've got lots and so forth we've got yeah $10,000 from Sean partners to give to you know a
charity of your choice and we're doing that with every yeah right episode of this I'm you know
heavily involved in in restaurants produce and farming and I helped start a charity called
thankful for farmers and it's it's not just about when drought times it's about you know mental
health and I know how hard farmers work obviously seeing it in my own life and that's why I created
paddock to plate because it wasn't really me it was look it was fantastic I like to travel around
Australia and meet all these incredible producers that work so bloody hard until their story so
yeah thankful for farmers is my go and you know I'm involved with them a lot at the moment because
of what we're calling the gap year go and pick because we've had you know all these farmers with
no help from overseas workers and and I've had that same obviously in my industry too so we're
trying to get kids that are leaving school to go and have a gap year go and pick and earn some
money you know if it's for a month or six weeks or two months and and earn some good coin and
help the farmers out at the same time good on you mate well thank you so much for being a part of
the podcast it's really I can sit here and talk for hours you know I know and I could do the same
exactly but you've got to go on keep creating your empire I've got a food tasting at at opera bar
so yeah it's it's we're you're gonna be okay it's these this time of year so we have four of them
a year when the change of seasons and this week and last week I've just been going to different
venues and having food tastings and posting it and yeah everyone thinks my life is pretty bloody
cool yeah it bloody is I think it is you've created that you deserve it mate thank you
pleasure that was Matt Moran and what I loved about my chat with Matt was just the fact that
we got along so well and the fact that he's just so down to earth but he's just one of those blokes
when you look at his life and you think god you've done so much and you know you're quite fancy in
certain ways but you're just such a knock about it the other and really the sense of I'm just
going to do it the way that I want to do it that's the absolute key in terms of me for Matt and I
love the fact that he's so successful it makes a pretty decent cheese on toast as well coming up
in the next episode is a woman who has one of the greatest visions for business of anyone that I've
ever come across Kate Morris she founded Adore Beauty Australia's first online cosmetics retailer
in 1999 when online shopping was hardly a thing Kate has gone from being the girl who got fired
from not one but two jobs to understanding the mentality of female consumers and taking it to
another level a big thank you to Shaw and Partners Financial Services who have generously supported
this podcast and also donated ten thousand dollars to the charity of choice of each of our guests
to thank them for their time Shaw and Partners are an Australian investment and wealth management
firm who manage over 28 billion dollars of assets under advice with seven offices around Australia
Shaw and Partners act for and on behalf of individuals institutions corporates and charities
for more info you can check out their website at shawandpartners.com.au that's s-h-a-w for
Shaw Shaw and Partners Financial Services your partners in building and preserving wealth